Appliance for fitting valve spring collets



June 9, 1953 E. M. ARTHUR 2,641,148

APPLIANCE FOR FITTING VALVE, SPRING COLLETS Filed Feb. 25, 1949 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FY33. F/G.5.

fi I l6 Q F/G4- I nventor.

June 9, 1953 E. M. ARTHUR 2,641,143

' APPLIANCE FOR FITTING VALVE SPRING COLLETS Filed Feb. 25, 1949 Y 2 Sheets-She et 2 Patented June 9, 1953 APPLIANCE FOR FITTING VALVE SPRING COLLETS Evan Meirion Arthur, Birmingham, England Application February 23, 1949, Serial No. 77,941 In Great Britain February 24, 1948 3 Claims.

This invention relates to appliances for fitting collets on valve stems for supporting valve springs and it has for its object an appliance which enables the collets to be fitted with great speed and also enables the collets to be fitted in awkward or confined places.

According to the present invention, the appliance comprises two arms pivoted in relation to one another, means for supporting and fixing a collet half on the outer end of each arm so that the collet halves can be assembled on a valve stem whilst fixed on the arms, and means for pressing the said outer ends of the arms together to hold the collet on the valve stem with the appliance supported by the valve stem to leave the hand free to manipulate the valve spring. The outer end of each arm conveniently forms a cradle and an inner fixed jaw of a clamp for receiving a collet half, a sliding clamp mounted on each arm and forming a movable jaw of the clamp for cooperating with said fixed jaw to hold a collet in said cradle, and springs urging the movable jaws towards the fixed jaws. The arms are convene iently pivotally mounted together intermediate their ends, on a pivot pin carried by a support member forming a hand grip and the clamping slides have thumb pieces thereon which arelocated so that the thumb of the hand gripping the support member can press on the thumb pieces. Referring to the drawings: I Figure l is a plan of an appliance constructed according to this invention, with the parts in position for receiving the half collets.

Figure 2 is an underside view of Figure 1. Figure 3 is a section on line III-III of Figure 1. Figure 4 is an elevation of a clamping slide. 7 Figure 5 is an end view of Figure 4. Figure 6 is an elevation of a pivoted arm. 7 Figure 7 is a side elevation of Figure 1. Figure 8 is a section through a pivoted arm on line VIII-VIII of Figure 6, and

Figure 9 is an underside view of a portion of the appliance showing the collet halves fixed therein and the arms near the fully closed position. l According to a convenient embodiment of this invention, two arms I are pivotally mounted on the pivot 2 at the front end of a strip of metal forming a mounting member 3, the outer end of which is curved downwardly to form a hand grip 4 leaving the finger and thumb free to manipulate the two arms. The arms I have lugs 5 on the inner sides which are pivoted together on the pivot 2 so that when the inner ends of the arms are forced apart, the outer ends are closed together. The arms I are formed of sheet metal bent upon itself to form a U-section and strips of metal forming clamping slides 6 are mounted in the channels between the webs of the arms. Each arm I forms a cradle for supporting a collet half and has a curved or semi-circular notch I formed on the lower web of the U-shaped channel at the outer end, and the upper web has a notch 8 cut therein from the end inwardly, the inner end of the notch being in the form of a quarter of a circle and forming a fixed clamping jaw. The notch 8 in the upper web is larger than the notch l in the lower web so that the collet half can be nested on the rim of the notch I in the lower web. The outer end of each clamping slide 6 has a curved notch Ii) therein to form an inwardly directed arm which forms a clamping jaw and engages a side of the collet half A so that when the clamping slide 6 is drawn inwardly the collet half A is gripped between the clamping slide and the upper web of the arm I. The outer end of each clamping slide has a small inwardly directed spike II to lie over the fiat ends of the half collet and the inner side of the notch 8 in the upper web of each arm I has a similarly inwardly directed spike 9 so that the collet is prevented from slipping away from the clamping jaws inwardly. The rim of the notch l of one arm I is recessed at la to register a collet half thereon. The clamping slides 6 are normally of such slot l4.

pressed inwardly into the clamping position by means of a helical spring I2. A spring I 2 is fitted in a slot M in each clamping slide 6 and is retained centrally therein by engaging on tongues lie and I5 projecting from the respective ends As shown by Figure 8, the diameter of the spring I2 is such that diametrical opposite portions project outwardly from each face of the arm 6. The end of each clamping arm i is cut away as shown by Figure 4 to form edges i3 on the webs of the clamping arm I from which projects tongues I6 and when the arm I is assembled by being slid over the clamping slide 6, the tongues I6 engage in the said portions of the spring I2 projecting from each side of the clamping slide 8. Thus the spring I2 can be com pressed between shoulders formed by the edges I3 and a shoulder formed by an end of the slot I4. A portion of each upper web of the pivoted arms I has upwardly turned ear pieces ll and the pin 28 is passed through the two ear pieces and such pin is expanded at each end to form stops which limit the open movement of the arms. A helical spring I9 is mounted on this pin and bears on the lugs to normally force the inner ends of the arms I apart.

In order to hold the inner end of the arms inwardly, a locking member 20 is slidably mounted on the strip of metal 3 aforementioned on which the arms I are pivoted and this slide is adapted to be moved inwardly so that side lugs 2| bear on the sides of the arms, or so that the slide 20 can be moved into position shown by dotted lines Figure 1 leaving the outer ends of the arms I free to close together by the spring IS. The inner end of the clamping slides are inturned to form thumb-pieces.

In order to fix the two collet halves on a valve stem, each clamping slide 6 on the pivoted arm I is pressed outwardly against the pressure of spring I2 and the half collet lodged in position, when the slide is released to spring grip the collet half of the arm. The slide 20 engages the tail of the pivoted arm I to hold the clamping ends of the arm I apart to facilitate the fitting of the collets, after which the slide 20 is slid out of engagement with the arms, leaving the arms free to be controlled by the finger and thumb with the hand gripping the curled round hand grip aforementioned. The appliance can then be placed in position with the pivoted arms on each side of the valve stem, when the arms are released so that the collets are held on the valve stem by the spring I9 which also holds the appliance supported by the valve stem, thereby leaving both hands free to manipulate the valve spring lifter,

allowing the valve spring to engage the collet. The slides 6 can then be spring pressed outwardly to release engagement with the collets which enables the arms to be disengaged. The arms I are bent a little so that the outer ends do not lie in the same plane so that the collet halves A are free to contact when mounted on such arms. The appliance can also be engaged on the collets before-liftin the valve spring, thereby ensuring that, when a valve is being removed, the collets will not accidentally be lost or lodged in an out of the way position. By this invention a collet can be fitted under valve springs with great ease even when located in awkward places and a great saving of time is effected.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is:

1. An appliance for fitting valve spring collets on valve stems, comprising a mounting member having a hand grip at the rear end, two arms pivoted. together intermediate their ends on a pin carried by said mounting member, the outer end of each arm forming a cradle and an inner fixed clamping jaw for receiving a collet half, a sliding clamp mounted on each arm and having an outer clamping jaw c0-acti11g with said fixed clamping jaw, a spring urging each sliding clam outwardly towards the said hand grip on the support, thumb pieces on the outer ends of said sliding clamps located above the said mountin member and adjacent thehand grip end andadapted to bepressed by the hand holding the said hand grip to open the sliding clamp, ear pieces in the said pivoted arms at the rear of the pivot axis of the arms, a pin passing through perforations in said ear pieces and having stops on each end for limiting the opening movement of the arms, and a compression spring on the latter said pin between said ear pieces.

. 2. An appliance for fitting valve spring. collets on valve stems, comprising two clamping arms U-shaped in cross-section and pivoted together, a notch in the lower web of each clampin arm which web supports a collet half around the rim of the notch, a notch in the upper web of each clamping arm to provide a fixed inner clamping jaw, a spring pressed clamp slidably mounted between the webs of each clamping arm and having an inwardly directed arm to form an outer clamping jaw, spikes on the said clamping jaws to engage around the corners of the collet halves, a mounting member carrying a pivot pin on which the said arms are mounted, a hand grip on the outer end of the mounting member, thumb pieces on the end of the said clamping slides located above the said mounting support adjacent said hand grip and on which can be pressed the thumb of the hand gripping the said hand grip, a spring for pressing the outer end of the arms together, and a locking member slidably mounted on the mounting member and having lugs on each end which in one position. of the locking member engages the sides of the clamping arms to hold the same closed together, and in another position lies clear of the clamping arms,

3. An appliance for fitting valve spring collets on valve stems, comprising two clamping arms U-shaped in cross section and pivoted together, a notch in the lower web of each clamping arm which web supports a collet half around the rim of the notch, a notch in the upper web to provide a fixed inner clamping jaw, a spring pressed sliding clamp mounted between the webs of each clamping arm and having an inwardly directed arm to form a movable outer clamping jaw, spikes on the said clamping jaws to engage around the corners of the collet halves, an opening in each said clamping slide, tongues projecting inwardly from the opposite ends of the opening, a helical spring arranged in the opening and engaged on the said tongues, tongues projecting rearwardly from rear edges of the upper and lower webs of the said clamping arms and engaging in the forward ends of the helical springs to press the sliding clamp rearwardly, a mounting membercarrying a pivot pin on which the said arms are pivotally mounted, a hand grip on the outer end of the mounting member, thumb pieces on the ends of the said clamping slides 1ocated above the said mounting member adjacent the hand grip and on which can be pressed the thumb of the hand gripping the said hand grip, a spring for pressing the outer ends of the arms together, and a locking member slidably mounted on the mounting member and having lugs on each end which inone position of the locking member engages the sides of the clamping arms to hold the same closed together and in another position lies clear of the clamping arms.

EVAN MEIRION ARTHUR.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Hildenbrand June 1 1, 1940 

